Sometimes I stare into my little beagle’s eyes and wonder what she’s thinking. She’s a talented pup, and loyal, present at my feet from breakfast to bedtime.

But does she comprehend her life? Understand the depth of our relationship?

Then I realize it doesn’t matter because – and if you have kids or dogs you’ll get this – I just think she’s adorable.

I’m full of the same wonder listening to 12-year-old Jackie Evancho sing and, to be clear, the world loves to hear her sing. She got five standing ovations during her Monday night performance of movie music with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra at Boettcher Concert Hall.

Sometimes it’s OK to skip the entree and just have pie for dinner. And in that way it’s just fine to indulge guilt-free in the sweet, classical sounds of Valentina Lisitsa.

The Ukrainian-born pianist is what we now call an Internet sensation. She posted a few performance videos on YouTube and, 44 million clicks later, she’s classical newest star. You can credit her playing for that; it is skilled. Or you can credit her blond hair and some terrifically romantic lighting; equally skilled.

On her new Decca album “Live at the Royal Albert Hall,” Lisitsa performs without the benefit of special effects, and proves it’s not just a show. Her playing has personality; it’s full of flourishes, but delicate. She has a style, but enough reverence for Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Chopin to do their compositions justice.

We’ve seen the wear-and-tear of cha-cha rehearsals during “Dancing With the Stars.” We’ve witnessed the meltdowns in front of mirrors during hip-hop practice sessions on “So You Think You Can Dance.” We’re well aware of the blistered feet, pulled muscles and bruised egos en route to looking graceful on the dance floor.

What we haven’t yet seen is the classical side of the TV reality-show dance competition. The Arabesques, grand jetes and battles at the barre. Plus the griping and sniping that go with those pretty moves.

The CW hopes to change all that with the introduction of “Breaking Pointe,” a ballet reality series featuring dancers with the Ballet West company in Salt Lake City.

Jonas Kaufmann takes the title role, Marina Poplavskaya sings the role of Marguerite, and René Pape plays the devil in a new production of Gounod’s “Faust,” directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff in his Met debut.

Under McAnuff’s direction, the opera is updated to the first half of the 20th century.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who recently won raves for his “Don Carlo,” conducts.

“Faust” will be broadcast Sunday, May 13, as part of PBS’ “Great Performances at the Met,” locally 1-4:30 p.m. on KRMA-Channel 6.

Here’s an all-American two-parter: “San Francisco Symphony at 100″ with music director Michael Tilson Thomas conducting the Symphony’s centennial season opening night gala will be broadcast on PBS “Great Performances” on Friday, March 30.

Author Amy Tan hosts the program which also features Itzhak Perlman and Lang Lang performing works by Copland, Mendelssohn and Britten.

The previous day, March 29, “Great Performances” features “The Thomashefskys: Music and Memories of a Life in the Yiddish Theater,” which is Tilson Thomas’ tribute to his grandparents, Yiddish theater pioneers Boris and Bessie Thomashefsky.

Carrie Underwood sings “It Had to Be You” with Tony Bennett. Faith Hill sings “The Way You Look Tonight” with Tony Bennett. Natalie Cole sings “Watch What Happens” with Tony Bennett. And on and on, through the American songbook.

“Tony Bennett: Duets II” is a revelation, a cross-generational celebration of standards and pop favorites, premiering on PBS Friday night.

The first Bennett “Duets” CD was released in honor of his 80th birthday. The followup CD, “Duets II,” debuted at the top of the Billboard album charts when he was 85, making Bennett the oldest vocal artist ever to land in that spot. Now comes the film version of the sessions, airing Friday at 9 p.m. on PBS.

“Great Performances” opens the season with “Il Postino from LA Opera” starring Placido Domingo on Friday, Nov. 25, as part of the PBS Fall Arts Festival. Based on the 1994 film and 1985 novel, “Il Postino” imagines a young postman in a tiny Italian village, who makes daily deliveries to a single customer, Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, played by Domingo.

Coming Friday, Dec. 2, Andrea Bocelli’s live concert in Central Park with the New York Philharmonic airs on “Great Performances, with guests including Celine Dion, Tony Bennett and Bryn Terfel.

Who needs public broadcasting? You know those kids in rural Colorado who’ve never been to an opera? Who can’t afford satellite radio and who don’t get to great museums or lecture halls? They depend on their local public TV outlet to open them to a world of culture. “Great Performances at the Met” presents a celebrated new production of Verdi’s Don Carlo Sunday, April 3 at 1 p.m. on Rocky Mountain PBS.